A man who moved from foster home to foster home knows what it's like to not feel like you belong, and now he's saving dogs from the pound.
Actor and urban farmer Prentice "PJ" Lennon, was one of the first people standing in line when the East Valley Shelter opened its doors for this summer's nationwide Clear The Shelters pet-adoption event.
"I showed up first thing," he says. "I wanted to get my pick."
During Clear the Shelters, prospective pet parents are asked to open their homes as shelters across the United States drop fees, hoping to help find forever homes for pets in need.
Lennon met several dogs that day, until he chose a white pit bull - or rather, until she chose him.
As a child, Lennon was moved between several foster homes. This experience has brought him a sense of kinship with dogs in shelters that are never chosen.
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"It's a really weird feeling of knowing that nobody wants you," he said. "You always think of what's wrong with you."
He feels that many rescue dogs, namely pit bulls, who are adopted and then returned to the shelter are simply misunderstood.
"When you walk down the halls of a shelter, and you see these dogs behind chain-link," Lennon said, choking up. "They look at you with hope, that someone is going to love them."
With the help of NBCLA's viewers who watched the adoption take place live on social media, Lennon adopted the eager white pup, who wagged her tail and licked him constantly, never wanting to leave his side at the shelter event.
Lennon named his newly adopted dog Champaca, after the fragrant flower of the same name.
Champaca now lives in the Hollywood Hills with two pit bull siblings named, Sadie and Brad Pitt -- who is oddly camera-shy.
